Who better to get a few tips on driving from than renowned instructor, David Leadbetter?

Over the years, Leadbetter has built a virtual empire of golf instruction academies, and along the way, has been the “go to” swing coach for top players such as Nick Faldo, Nick Price, Michelle Wie and Ernie Els.

He joins us, courtesy of Callaway Golf, with these tips on “Driving for Power and Accuracy.”

Also, make sure to check out some of the drivers that can help you drive it long and straight from Callaway Golf, available at Worldwide Golf Shops by clicking HERE.

David Leadbetter:  If you’re going to hit the driver well it’s essential that you understand the dynamics. Meaning that, you actually have to make sure that you’re striking the ball slightly on the upswing. So you have to adjust your set up for that compared to an iron, where the ball is more in the middle of your stance. The first thing you’re going to do is get the ball forward in the stance, almost up the left heel. Widen your stance slightly because this is important for good balance.

The big thing you want to do is to actually just pop your hip forward. Your left hip needs to be higher than your right. So what this does, it raises my left side and puts my right side behind the ball. So you really put yourself in a position where you can actually hit up on it. So it’s all about set up. We see so many golfers they set up to the ball like they’re hitting an iron. The ball back in their stance. Their shoulders are level. If anything, they have their weight on their left side.

So ball forward. Slightly wider stance. Pop that hip up. You might find that a small fraction of your weight is a little bit more on the right side compared to the left side, but this gives you the sensation, especially, and the last thing which I almost forgot, feel like your hands are very slightly behind the ball. So everything is geared to sort of get you to hit up on it. So remember, get your set up right. That will allow you to launch the ball up in the air, because that is key for good driving. Launch it with very little spin. It will hit it a long way. You’ll get a lot of speed, I can tell you.

So here I go. Set up to it. Pull forward. Pop my hip up just a little bit, and off we go. So work on that set up if you want to hit your tee shots long with a lot of speed.

Video: Courtesy of Callaway Golf